An Encounter in the forest
by keithallen
Summary: Follow-on to An Encounter in the Desert. John and Cameron, and a fuming Sarah, are off to investigate a Sky Net installation. Kouta, Lucy, and Nana have build their house in a remote location. Yuka and Mayu are searching for their new home Kouta has build. Plenty of surprises for everyone.
1. Chapter 1

An encounter in the forest

CH1

Vigilantly searching for possible Sky Net connections, Cameron read (or rather scanned) all the newspapers at the library. This routine task took a fraction of the time it would take a human to perform. Cameron casually flipped the pages, finishing her scan to read all the text by the time the page had settled down. She then flipped to the next page. To an onlooker, it appeared she was browsing through the paper to look at headlines, not taking in the entire page of information by the time the page had settled to lay flat.

An article got her attention in the legals. A company called AMDO had bought 400 acres of woodland from another lumber company. While it was normal for companies to trade land, she did note that this area of land was the same place a future Sky Net telecommunications hub was going to be. General Conner had lost three hundred fifty men during the attack on that hub in order to cut the central Sky Net communications for the entire west coast. Without that hub, reactions from Sky Net to resistance activity was slowed from milliseconds to 30 minutes. That gave raiding parties time to get away before screaming H/K's arrived.

Cameron looked up everything she could find out about AMDO. It was a private corporation dealing in lumber and 'green logging'. For some reason, humans of late wanted 'green' or 'organic' to be displayed in everything from products to actions. At times, adding a 'green' badge meant more business, but in truth, it meant nothing. 'Green' or 'organic' vegetables, for instance, made no sense whatsoever. If they were not 'green' and organic to begin with, they would not be vegetables.

The CEO for AMDO was a man named Ike Patterson. Cameron searched for his address, but came up empty. She then tapped into the web and searched every pubic service for clues. Mr. Patterson had never seen a doctor, had never had any interaction with police, had never gone to school, nor did he have a birth certificate on file. It was obvious Ike Patterson was not human, if he did physically exist.

Upon returning to the safe house, Cameron showed Sarah and John what she had discovered. Both agreed they needed to go find out what this AMDO was doing. Sarah gathered the supplies they'd need while Cameron and John packed their weapons. Some of their weapons were new, having to replace the ones lost during that desert incident when Cameron had learned the hard way that she wasn't the most bad-ass thing on the planet.

In the basement as she she loaded clips, Cameron noted Sarah had gone outside. "John, it's safe to kiss now," she said.

John suppressed a chuckle. His mother had gone ballistic when Cameron told her they had been kissing. After she almost wrecked the truck, Sarah gave John an hour long lecture on how Cameron wasn't human, would never have feelings, and she was his MACHINE, not his girlfriend. Upon returning to the safe house, Sarah even re-arraigned their rooms to put her room right next to John's, and had Cameron move into the cellar to keep 'anything further' from happening.

Because of this, and possibly just to piss off his mother, John and Cameron kissed whenever it was safe to do so. Moving closer to Cameron, John put an arm around her as their lips met. Cameron dropped the clip and wrapped her arms around him, Their kiss deepened as their hands rubbed each other's backs, then sides. John's hand migrated from Cameron's hips, and crept up inside her shirt to pet her bare sides.

"Higher," Cameron said, breaking the kiss momentarily. Re-locking lips, she guided his hand up to her breast.

One problem Cameron found, what that while John was giving her these pleasant sensations that seemed to tingle through her entire sensory system, she tended to ignore her long range sensors. It was a complete surprise to hear the cellar door open, followed by footsteps down the stairs. "Mom!" John gasped in warning. They quickly parted.

"How are you..." Sarah stopped dead in her tracks as she stared at a red-faced John pretending to look over the table of weapons as Cameron seemed very studious in putting bullets in a rifle clip. Her shirt was un tucked and rumpled along the bottom. Cameron didn't blush, but somehow, she still looked guilty. "WHAT were you doing down here?" Sarah asked harshly.

"Getting things ready, Mom," John said with a squeak in his voice.

"We are nearly ready to go," Cameron agreed. After a pause, she added, "Five more minutes. That is, if you hadn't interrupted us." she added.

John burst out a with a snort, then quickly pressing his lips together as he flushed deeper.

"John Conner, come with me. The machine can finish down here!" Sarah snapped.

John let out a sigh. He cast Cameron a tiny grin and followed his mother up the stairs.

Sarah led John to the living room, then turned on him with an angry glare. "You should know better that that!" Sarah growled. "That THING is a machine! That's ALL. The name, the skin, the human look, it's all FAKE! Strip that skin off and it's nothing but metal and wires. You can't love a MACHINE!" she ended in a roar.

Itching his ear, John suppressed a smile as he said, "Well, some people really love their cars..."

"The thing is, they don't LOVE their cars!" Sarah spat back at him. "You are spending entirely too much time with that metal."

With a groan, John said, "look, Mom, Cameron does everything she's suppose to do ..."

"And IT has no business kissing you, or you, IT!" Sarah countered, cutting him off. "Maybe if I tear that FAKE skin off, you'll remember what IT really is!"

John rolled his eyes as he said with a groan, "Mom, I know Cameron is a machine, OK? Can we go before it gets dark?"

"How do you know IT was not programmed to seduce you?" Sarah asked harshly. "HOW do you know we can trust IT beyond the end of the muzzle of a gun?"

Flinging his arms up, John asked, "So why would I send Cameron back in time to protect me, if she was going to hurt me? I suppose you have an answer for that?"

Sarah crossed her arms and glared at John. After a moment of silence, she said, "That's it, I'm going to find you a prostitute."

"What?" John asked, shocked at his mother's words.

"Obviously, you need sex. You're at that age. The only safe way is you get someone who .."

"No! No, Mom," John cried. "I can't believe you just said that."

"That will solve the problem," Sarah said firmly.

"Mom," John said with a pained moan.

"Right after this mission is done, I will search for a suitable girl for hire."

"Do you have any idea how perverted that sounds?" John asked as he gapped at her. "Mothers DO NOT go out to get their sons prostitutes!"

Cameron came up out of the cellar carrying the bags of guns and ammo. She stared at John. John waved a hand at his mother and said, "Mom wants to get me a prostitute. Can you believe that?"

"Why?"

"So I can have sex with her!" John grumbled.

Cameron eyed John, then stated, "Unacceptable. The risk of disease it too great, as is the chance of physical harm. If you want sex, I can take care of that after we complete this mission."

"YOU WILL NOT!" Sarah screamed as she turned crimson in rage.

Tipping her head to the side, Cameron said, "You are his mother, it would not be acceptable for you to have sex with John. That may leave him with permanent mental scaring."

Glaring at Cameron, Sarah growled, "Get in the truck, we need to leave."

John got in the front sat as his mother directed. It was a quiet, tense ride as they got to the highway and headed east to the mountains.

.

Inside the large log cabin they had made themselves, Kouta sat in the front 'great' room, talking with the suited man who had arrived. From the railing of the second floor, Lucy looked down on them, listening.

"Mr. Patterson," the man said evenly to Kouta. "I will pay you double the property value, as well as have this house that and your family has so lovingly build, moved to the location of your choice. We will have this land."

In an identical tone, Kouta replied, "Sir, I have been a gracious host. I have heard you out. My wife and I agree, we will not sell to you, or anyone." Getting up, he added, "I believe it is time for you to go."

The man got up with Kouta. "May I speak with your wife, Mr. Patterson?" he asked as his hand went into his jacket.

"No."

Pulling a gun, the man pointed it at Kouta. "I insist." he stated.

The gun jerked from the man's hand to fly straight up. The man followed suit. Lifting the man up eye-level with her, Lucy said, "Kouta, ask him how many pieces he wants to land in after I throw him out the window."

The man's eyes glowed red. He tried to grab whatever was holding him. Lucy tightened the vector around him. "I've seen your kind, you're not so tough" she mussed. She wrapped another vector

around his head. Lucy then paused as she looked down. They had just gotten all the new furniture and carpets put in. Not wanting to ruin them, she opened the large arched window over the front door and held the man out over the porch before she tightened her vectors again and pulled.

The man's head came off his shoulders in a shower of sparks. She dropped the body, then crushed his head before she released it to fall down and break open by it's body.

"I'll go clean up my mess," Lucy said in a conversational tone as she came down the stairs.

"He ... wasn't human?" Kouta asked.

"No, he was a toy robot. I'm really beginning to not like those things," Lucy said.

.

John checked on his laptop for any information about the CMDO corporation. He found no home web page. There was something very not right about this company. An invisible person was the CEO, with no trustee board, nor stockholders. The logging company existed only on paper, and the land it owned was in a state of 'renewal', not to be logged again for another ten years at a minimum.

The company made no money and had no creditors. The corporate office was a post office box.

"You know, Mom, this AMDO screams 'organized crime'," John said. "It's hard to believe Sky Net is involved. They are usually more careful that this. The FBI has to be watching these guys."

Behind the wheel, Sarah flicked her eyes at John. "Maybe they changed tactics. Your machine insists that place will be a future Sky Net installation. We have been digging out their legitimate cover companies."

Not partaking in the conversation in the front seat, Cameron looked out the window. Sarah seemed to be more intent lately on calling her 'it', 'machine', and 'robot'. Especially in front of John. In a practice scenario in her mind, Cameron placed herself sitting naked on a kitchen table, kissing John as he had sex with her, just so Sarah would find them and know she was willing and able to have all the sex that John could ever want. A crooked smile came to her lips. Rehearsing a possible action was routine, but for some reason, she enjoyed this one enough to let it play in her head.

.

The young Japanese woman stopped the rental car right after turning onto a dirt road. The GPS was telling her she had arrived at her destination. Looking around, all she saw were trees. No buildings, no nothing but an endless forest. "This can't be right," she mussed with a shake of her brown haired head. She dug out the directions Kouta had given her.

In the passenger seat, the dark haired teenage girl with her asked, "Yuka, are we lost?"

Yuka let out a growl. "Kouta, you Baka," she grumbled. She dug out her cell phone to find she had no signal. Glaring at the phone, she stuffed in back in her purse. "Baka!" she snapped as she punched the steering wheel.

"Yuka, did you read the directions right?" the girl asked meekly.

"Of course I did, Mayu," Yuka grumbled. She looked at them again, and re-traced the route, comparing it to what the GPS map said.

"Maybe this is Kouta's driveway?" Mayu asked.

Looking up the rough, dirt road, Yuka waved a hand and said, "There's no house!"

"Maybe it is a long driveway?" Mayu coaxed.

Behind them a black four door truck swung around to stop right behind them.

"Maybe they know," Mayu offered.

The rear driver's side door opened and a girl got out. The driver said something to her. After she passed the driver's door, the girl's eyes flashed red.

Yuka knew about diclonius now, and came to a quick deduction. Even though she had no horns, that girl had to be a diclonius. She also didn't look happy. Without Lucy or Nana here, it would be easy for that girl to kill her and Mayu.

With a cry of terror, Yuka smashed the gas pedal to the floor. Dirt flung as their small rental raced down the dirt road, bouncing wildly.

"Yuka!" Mayu cried as she grabbed the dash, wide- eyed.

"A diclonius ... behind us!" Yuka cried as she managed to take a corner and miss sliding into a tree.

Mayu turned to see the girl running behind them and keeping up. "She's right behind us!"

"Ghaaa!" Yuka cried and tried to mash the pedal down farther.

.

Although Cameron had heard it many times, she still didn't like Sarah calling her an 'it'. Her eyed flashed briefly due to Sarah once again reminder her she was nothing but an unfeeling chunk of metal. She went to ask the people in that car if they knew anything about AMCO like Sarah asked. The car took off. Cameron followed it, trying to get to it before it reached a security gate.

Fortunately for the car, and unfortunate for Cameron, this road was freshly made and the dirt was loose. The car spun wildly as it slew around a corner going uphill. If it had been able to gain a high sped, the car would have crashed. Cameron tried to compensate, but also slid on the loose dirt. Right ahead of her, the car bounced and scraped on a rock, shooting sparks as it bottomed out.

Moving to the edge of the road, Cameron used a tree to catapult herself at the car. Landing by the rear driver's side tire, she grabbed the underside of the fender and hauled back. Screams sounded from the car as Cameron got it slowed, then stopped, the car's front tires spinning away and smoking as they dug holes in the road.

"Get your foot off the gas!" Cameron yelled. Trying to shout over the noise of squealing tires and screaming, Cameron screamed, "FOOT OFF THE GAS, I WON"T HURT YOU!"

Thankfully, the woman driver let off the gas. The car died.

.

Lucy dragged the robot's body off the flat they had build the house on and a little ways downhill. She dug a deep hole and pushed the body in. As she was covering it up, she heard a car coming up the hill. Looking down, she saw the small white car with that robot of John's chasing it, then catching it as the occupants screamed. "What's this?" she asked herself. She decided to go investigate.

.

The car's occupants spoke Japanese, but not very coherently in their terrified state, mashed together on the passenger side of the car. Although Cameron assured them she was not going to hurt them, they were doing more begging than talking.

"I just want to know what you know about a company called AMCO," Cameron explained.

"Please don't hurt us, we know nothing!" Yuka cried from within.

Cameron sensed something coming down from above. Lucy landed in front of the car. Eyeing Cameron, she asked heavily, "What are you doing here?"

The two in the car cried out again, this time in relief. The passenger side door opened and they spilled out to scramble up, run around and hide behind Lucy.

Cameron tipped her head. "Lucy-sama, we are looking for a Sky Net installation called AMCO."

"Baka," Lucy snorted at her. "One of your kind already came today. I buried him up on the hill," Lucy said as terrified faces peeking out from each side of her.

"AMCO is not Sky Net?" Cameron asked.

"AMCO is Kouta. He started that company with the money I got in Las Vegas," Lucy stated.

"Ones like me will continue to come to take it away from you," Cameron stated.

"And I will bury them right beside their friend," Lucy retorted.

The sound of an engine came up the road. Sarah drove up and stopped. Cameron only glanced back at the truck. "Lucy-sama, covering them with dirt is insufficient. Their chips must be destroyed as well as the bodies. Let us show you how."

"Chips?" Yuka asked, peeking around from behind Lucy.

Lucy turned around and looked down on Yuka. "Get your car up the hill. Kouta and Nana are cleaning up the porch."

"She won't hurt us?" Mayu asked meekly as she stared at Cameron.

"Not unless she wants to be scrap metal," Lucy replied.

Yuka got back in the car with Mayu. They buckled their seat belts. Yuka started the car, but it didn't move, the tires only dug away in the holes they'd made.

Letting out a huff, Lucy told Cameron, "You broke it, you get it up to the house." She then strode off up through the woods.


	2. Chapter 2

CH 2

Upon seeing each other, Nana and Mayu collided together with happy cries, hugging and bouncing together. Even Lucy smiled at their exuberant reunion. Chattering happily, they ran inside with Nana eager to show Mayu their new house.

Yuka was more subdued. After her greeting to Kouta, she hugged him, then frowned at him. "Kouta, you could have warned us that you are living in the wideness. I thought we were lost!"

"Sorry Yuka," Kouta replied as he rubbed the back of his head. Gesturing to the house, he asked, "Do you like it? We made it from trees right here in these mountains. Lucy cut, Nana shaped, I stained them and we all put them together. The hardware store is a few miles away, but they delivered all the other things we needed."

Cameron noted the two story thirty by sixty foot log cabin lacked the same sized logs on every tier. The obviously larger ones were on the bottom. There was also no even color to the structure like modern log homes. Overall, it looked like an old style, but well built log cabin. The porch was rough cut lumber with many coats of clear sealant. The foundation was evenly cut rock. Stone pillars held up the porch. The roof was long sheets of metal.

"Kouta, how can you afford something like this?" Yuka asked as she took in the size of the house and seemingly endless land around them.

"Lucy got lucky in a place called Las Vegas," Kouta explained, then said with a wince, "but now, we can't go back there."

Yuka eyed Lucy. "You were gambling?"

"No, I put the ball on the spinning disk where my number was." Lucy said indignantly. "The men in dark suits got upset after I did it six times. Those men wanted me to go with them. Kouta coaxed me to go instead of killing them. They took us to a room and became mean. So I got mean with them. I didn't kill them, but they will never walk again. After that, another man paid us what I won, and gave us a bonus to go play at another casino. This happened in several places. By the time we got to the end of the 'strip' as they call it, we had plenty of money."

"We are pretty well off," Kouta agreed. Looking at the group, he added, "It is a long way back to any motel, so please everyone, stay the night."

.

Sarah was impressed with the cabin's interior. Walking in the door, the front of the cabin was a great room with a high, vaulted ceiling. Thick timbers supported the second floor. The walls were straight, flat and varnished to a soft shine. Plush rugs on the floor and a large open hearth fire place adorned the great room. Thick plank stairs went up to a balcony type hallway that looked down on the room. She could see another hallway leading back father into the cabin. Kouta was telling Yuka about their new house in Japanese, Sarah didn't understand a word he said.

"Four bedrooms upstairs," Cameron said beside her, telling her what Kouta was explaining. "Two baths, one upstairs, one down. The community tub off the dinning room is not finished yet. There is another spare guest room first door to the right downstairs, next to the bathroom. The kitchen is in the back, with a dinning room to the side by the laundry room. Three bedrooms are free, the first ones on each side as you come to the hallway, and the downstairs bedroom."

.

Yuka was taking all this in as Kouta explained. Nana then chimed in with, "And Mayu can sleep in my room, so Yuka can have her own room!"

"Umm, Nana, we have three other guests as well." Kouta reminded her.

Pointing to where John and Cameron stood, Nana said, "John and Cameron can share a room together just like you and Lucy do .. oh wait ... I guess Yuka will have to share with Sarah," she finished thoughtfully.

"HUH?" Yuka asked. Eyeing Kouta warily, she asked, "Where does Lucy sleep?"

"Nana burst out with a happy, "With Kouta!"

Gapping at Kouta, Yuka's face turned into a scowl. "You ... you ... sleep with Lucy?" she asked in a shriek.

As Kouta backed up from Yuka's wrath, Lucy stepped between them. Holding up her left hand to show Yuka, she said, "We are married."

"What!" Yuka gasped again as if she had just expelled the last of the air from her lungs.

"I said we are married. Kouta is my husband," Lucy explained sternly.

"Kouta?" Yuka asked as she gazed at him in shock.

Kouta nodded sadly, he knew Yuka was not going to take this well. "I'm sorry, Yuka, but I choose Lucy."

The blood ran from Yuka's face. "Kouta ... Kouta, how could you?" she asked weakly. Turning, Yuka stumbled for the front door.

"I though Yuka was the Mother..." Mayu asked. Gazing at Kouta, she said, "You were the Father and Yuka was the mother. Not Lucy."

"Mayu," Kouta said, and tried to ease any fears she had, "Yuka is still your Mother if you want her to be."

"Mayu," Lucy said evenly. "Please give me a chance to be a mother too."

A wailing cry sounded from outside. Yuka. Lucy turned to Kouta and said, "I will go talk to Yuka. Please take care of our guests."

Cameron watched, processing the information as she tried to get the full picture. "Kouta, you were married to Yuka before?" she asked, concluding that Mayu was Yuka and Kouta's child.

"What? No! Yuka is my cousin I knew from when we were kids," Kouta said defensively. "I adopted Mayu"

On a completely different train of thought, Sarah said, "Cameron, you and I should share a room."

"I don't need a room, I don't sleep," Cameron told Sarah.

"IT can still spend the night with me," Sarah said firmly.

Kouta's head hurt from having to shift languages so quickly. "Ummmm, split up the rooms however you want," Kouta said, seeing how neither Sarah or Cameron looked very happy. He glanced towards the door. He really hoped Yuka and Lucy would not get into a fight.

Grabbing Mayu's hand, Nana stated, "Mayu is staying in Nana's room!"

Not sure what was going on, John asked, "Umm, Cam?"

"It stays in my room tonight," Sarah said firmly as she cast Cameron a glare.

"It?" John asked. "Mom, can't you be a little nicer to Cameron?" he asked angrily.

"I do as John tells me to do," Cameron stated.

"And let some machine seduce my son? fat chance!" Sarah grated as she eyed Cameron.

With his mother angry, and Cameon's face glazing over, John knew things were getting worse. Normally, Cameron took on that glassy look just before plunging into a fight. Gently, he turned Cameron toward the stairs. "Mom, Cameron IS sleeping with me tonight, so get over it!"

To Kouta, Cameron asked, "Kouta-san, do you mind if I sleep with John?"

"Ummm, I'm fine with it," Kouta said hesitantly.

"What was that? Say it so I can understand!" Sarah demanded.

Cameron felt like her CPU was overloading. Her targeting system was locked on Sarah with no commands to do so. Every movable object in the room was highlighted, and the best place for it to land on Sarah's body to shut her up was being fed into her heads-up display. Cameron had not intended to speak, but she found herself saying, "We're going upstairs to have sex."

"Wha ... John!" Sarah yelled.

Rolling his eyes, John said, "We're just going to settle into our room and get away from the fighting."

"Hey Kouta, I think I should go show Mayu my room," Nana said, looking uncomfortable.

Kouta nodded. "Go on, someone will call you for dinner," he told them.

John and Cameron went up to their room and shut the door, followed by Nana and Mayu running up into Nana's room. Sarah stomped her way outside. Alone, Kouta let out a sigh and went over to the fireplace to get a fire started. The reunion with the rest of his family was not going well, and their uninvited guests were also having problems. Not the best of days, but at least Yuka wasn't beating on him.

.

On the porch, Yuka sat with her back to the wall and holding her legs, tears streaming down her face. Kouta that BAKA had married Lucy! What was so special about that girl? Was it her pink hair? How powerful she was, or maybe he'd seen her body so many times he felt he had to have her. It was so unfair that she could just wash up on a beach and take Kouta away! All these years Yuka had loved him, all the ones she spent waiting for him, meant nothing?

"Hey," Lucy said as she sat near Yuka.

Yuka's fists balled. "Come to gloat?" she asked in a hard tone as she tried to stare a tree to death.

Lucy thought for a moment, then said, "If he would have chosen you, I would feel the same betrayal and heartbreak you are feeling now. I've known Kouta since I was very young ... I've loved him since I was very young."

Yuka turned to stare at Lucy. Lucy's face didn't hold triumph, but a pained look as she stared off at nothing.

"I am so grateful for Kouta. All my life, he was the only who cared anything about me," Lucy said in a far off tone. "Those years when I was locked away, the only thing that kept me going, was wanting so badly to see him again. Through all the years of hell I went through, he was the only good thing I ever knew." Turning her head to focus on Yuka, she added, "So you see, I know exactly how you must feel. I will not gloat or tease you, but I will ask you to accept that Kouta is my husband. Mayu sees you as her mother. Even if you don't like me, please stay in our lives for her sake."

Yuka opened her mouth to reply, and Sarah came bursting out the door. Stomping down the steps, she balled her fists, shaking her arms as she stopped and faced the woods, tensed her muscles and belted out an angry scream at the top of her lungs.

Eyeing this, Lucy said, "I think both of you could use some wine coolers. They aren't as strong as the fruit and sake drinks, but they'll do."

Yuka nodded. Getting drunk right now sounded like a very good idea.

.

In Sarah's raging mind as she stomped through the woods, she saw only one solution. John was not going to leave that THING alone, and IT would do whatever John asked. Her only son was intent on humping a robot. As she thought about it, with Lucy here SkyNet was not going to build anything on this land. When Lucy has kids with that man, surely there would be more of them, and even IF Judgment day came, they would turn all those machines into scrap metal. John being here meant that he would be safe from any assassins, even if they did somehow find him. They didn't need Cameron any more.

Marching her way back to the house, Sarah flung the truck door open and pulled out a 9 MM from under the dash. She checked to be sure it was loaded with the armor piercing rounds, then held it close to her side as she moved to go into the house. She was going to get rid of the problem for good!

Coming upon the porch, Sarah saw Lucy still sitting by the sobbing woman. Three empty bottles were scattered about, and Yuka was working on the fourth. Lucy turned to see Sarah, and narrowed her eyes.

Sarah tried to hide the gun behind her. It didn't work. Her arm flew out as an invisible hand grabbed her. The gun was jerked out of her hand and went flying off over the treetops. Lucy shook her head.

"Rrrrrr," Sarah growled. She wanted so bad to shoot Lucy, but knew to attempt such was suicide. She turned around to stomp back down the steps to go looking for her gun.

.

"No guns in MY house," Lucy snapped at the departing woman.

"Huh?" Yuka asked as she dropped the fourth bottle to grab another.

"That Sarah tried to bring a gun into our house," Lucy grumbled. "I threw it away."

Yuka gave her a drunken nod, and clapped a hand on her shoulder. "Good for you!" She breathed into Lucy's face. "I don't like them either, and neither does Kouta."

"Only Baka's carry guns," Lucy said, trying to edge away from Yuka.

"Right!" Yuka said, giving a nod. Leaning into Lucy, Yuka cast her the most serious look a drunk could give. "I am glad that if I can't have Kouta, at least you are with him. I know you will do your best for him."

"Thank you," Lucy said, and winced from Yuka's alcohol breath as she tried to butt-scoot away.

Yuka sagged down and put her head on Lucy's shoulder. She sniffled and held Lucy by the arm. "I do still want to be Mayu's mother. Mayu needs a good family."

"So, you will stay with us?" Lucy asked, thankful Yuka was now breathing away from her face.

Yuka sniffled again. She took a long pull from the fifth bottle, then let out a burp. "I ... want to be here. Even though I lost Kouta ... I do love you girls so much..." Yuka then started crying again.

The door opened, Nana and Mayu came out. They stared briefly at the scene of Yuka hugging Lucy's arm and crying on her shoulder.

"Yuka don't look so good," Nana noted.

"Is Yuka going to be OK?" Mayu asked meekly.

"Yuka will be fine," Lucy assured them.

"Is Yuka still going to be our Mama?" Mayu asked.

Lucy nodded. Before she could speak, Yuka cried out.

"Oh Mayu! Of course I'll still be your Mama!" She said in a sob. Holding out an arm to Mayu, she tried to get up.

Mayu got the hint and knelt down by Yuka to accept the hug before Yuka fell over.

"Nana is really happy Yuka is going to stay the Mama too!" Nana said joyfully.

Lucy began to realize being Kouta's wife was more than just having the comfort of knowing that they were finally together. This house, Nana and Mayu, and even Yuka, they all gave Lucy responsibilities. Although they were asserting that Yuka was still part of the family, Lucy herself had to step up and be a mother also. She knew nothing about being a mother. "Hey, Yuka, will you show me how to be a good mother too?" she asked.

Yuka looked at her, then fell on her again with a happy cry of, "Yes!" as she gave Lucy a one-armed hug.

Yuka's breath was horrible, but at least now she was crying happy tears, Lucy thought.

.

Kouta decided he was the one who had to get dinner ready. Lucy was comforting Yuka, and he was very proud that she was – so there was no way he was going to interrupt them. Nana and Mayu were also currently in the huddle on the porch, so he left them alone also.

Kouta got water on to boil for the noodles, but was trying to figure out how much to cook. As he pondered, Cameron came in.

"Would you like some help, Kouta-sama?" Cameron asked.

"Huh?" he asked. "Ahh, sure if you wouldn't mind. I don't know the correct proportions for eight people," he admitted.

"Seven, I don't eat. Show me what you're making," Cameron replied.

Kouta did, and Cameron portioned out the food and got everything going.

"I thank you for helping ... what can I do to assist you?"

"Just sit, I can accomplish these tasks," Cameron said. She worked and thought of a question she had. "Kouta-sama, you married Lucy-sama even though she is not human. Why?"

Kouta cast her a smirk. "You don't need to keep using the 'sama'. I married Lucy because I love her."

With all the food started, Cameron turned to him. "But she is not human."

Kouta motioned to the table. "Please, come sit here," he said, pulling out a chair for her before he pulled out the one beside it. When they were settled, he explained the best he could.

"I married Lucy because I very much want to spend the rest of my life with her. Because I have loved her for a very long time. Yes, Lucy did some awful things, but she also had many sad years. All the bad things are behind us now, and I want to make her as happy as possible. Lucy is very special to me."

Cameron matched 'marriage' with everything Kouta told her, except one thing. "Lucy is a killer. A better and more dangerous killer than I am. She is also not human. Yet you married her anyway? I don't understand," Cameron said with an appropriate shake of her head.

"I don't care what Lucy is," Kouta said firmly. "Right now, and for many years to come, Lucy is my beloved wife. THAT is all that matters."

"And if she was a Terminator like me?"

"Still would not matter." Kouta leaned closer and said, "Cameron, I think I know why you are asking these questions. You are attracted to John?"

"I belong to him. I am his protector," Cameron stated.

Kouta pursed his lips for a second in thought. "How about this, imagine there is no Sky Net to protect John from and there never will be. John will live a long, full life even if you walked away right now. You are free to do whatever you want, go anywhere you want. John will be safe and happy no matter what you do. Tell me, Cameron, what would you want to do?"

Cameron put this scenario into her processes. The only thing that came back was the scene of her sitting on the kitchen table, having sex with John as they kissed deeply. "I would want to kiss John and have sex with him," she stated.

Kouta burst out in a red faced chuckle. "Too much information," he mumbled as he itched the back of his head. "Ahh, I take it you would stay with him?"

"Yes," Cameron agreed.

"And John, does he feel the same?"

A quick memory showed that he did tell her that even if she was no longer able to protect him, he'd still want her near him. She was about to answer, then John stepped in the room.

"Absolutely," John stated as he looked at Cameron. Cameron got up as John walked in to clasp her hands.

"Cameron, I don't know when it happened ... but I do love you. I know you're a Terminator, I don't care. No matter what happens, I want us to stay together," John said as he gazed into her eyes.

"As do I," Cameron said as she studied the face of her John. A quick calculation told her the food would not be ready for three quarters of an hour. Plenty of time. John was here, and Sarah was not. A glance at the kitchen table showed only a few items that would survive if the table was shaken. She looked at Kouta. "Kouta, may John and I please take care of dinner ourselves?"

Kouta nodded. He understood, they wanted to continue their confessions in private. "Of course. I'll shut the door on my way out," he said with a grin.

.

Sarah returned to the cabin in a foul mood. John was taking WAY too many liberties with that metal. She could not get rid of that thing, at least here with Lucy around, and she wasn't able to find her gun!

Marching back to the house, Sarah noted Lucy and Yuka were no longer on the porch. She was tempted to get another gun from the truck, but decided against it. The last thing she needed was to get Lucy angry at her. What she did need was to do was get Cameron away from here so she could blow her metal head off!

Calming herself, Sarah went inside to find Kota, Lucy, Nana and Mayu sitting on the floor around a small table playing Chinese checkers. Yuka lay with her head on Kouta's leg. Looking around, she saw no sign of John or Cameron.

Seeing her come in, Kouta said, "John and Cameron are making dinner. You can play with us if you like."

John and Cameron in the kitchen together. The thought made her eyebrow twitch, but surely they would not do anything in the kitchen of someone else's house. She noticed Lucy motion her over, as Nana said something that sounded like an invitation. Sarah nodded. Doing something was better than stewing over John kissing metal.

Kouta had Yuka sit up. The woman was obviously drunk. Sarah helped Yuka up to lean against Kouta with a happy sigh. Lucy seemed irritated by this, but kept quiet.

Sitting down, Sarah noticed pleasant smelling aromas coming from the kitchen. She heard a pleasant sounding cry come from the kitchen also. Stiffening herself against the noise, she sat and played a silly game to keep from going in there and doing something stupid, like trying to beat up a Terminator. She had to be patient and plan, but she was going to get rid if that thing!


	3. Chapter 3

CH3 ** NOTE : You will probably get more out of this story if you are familiar with Elfen Lied Anime AND SC Terminator chronicles TV show... **

Cameron seemed to have lost control of her own body. Her facial muscles would not return to a neutral state, but kept shifting from a pleasant grin, to a wide open smile whenever she looked at John.

Although she had not been in contact with him for seventeen minutes and ten seconds, she still felt him touching her everywhere. Her hands seemed to gravitate to him on their own. Several times as she served the people at the table, she had to force herself not to touch him when she passed. She had a difficult time resisting the urge to hug him, and despite how her processors calculated how she could sit in his lap facing him to feel his kisses and caresses again, she resisted that urge. She did keep that particular scenario playing in her head.

Sarah watched John and Cameron closely. Something HAD happened. Cameron never smiled, and now she wore this silly grin on her face. Every time they met eyes, John grew a big smile, as did Cameron.

"Cameron ... Cameron," Kouta said, trying to get her attention.

The second time worked. Cameron stopped idly adding rice to the bowl with a vacant look, and focused on him. "Yes, Kouta?" she asked.

"Are you sure you would not like something, even a small amount to eat? You did work hard at making all of us dinner," Kouta said.

Cameron thought about her and John in the kitchen. She smiled broadly as she said, "It was my pleasure."

Sarah stared at Cameron. First the odd behavior, and just now, she swore IT had been daydreaming. "Cameron, are you breaking down?" she asked.

"Mom," John complained in a moan.

Casting a smile at Sarah, Cameron said, "I am working perfectly." Seeing the seat on John's left side was empty, she asked, "Kouta, may I sit, even if I do not eat anything?"

"Please do," Kouta replied. "Dinner time is also family time."

Cameron ran his statement through her files. He was correct. Every time they had dinner, Sarah and John sat together. She smiled again as she computed that in his statement, Kouta was accepting her as one of them. To him and John, she was not just a 'thing'. They were including her as family. "Thank you!" Cameron beamed. She had not meant her words to sound so happy, they just came out that way.

Cameron sat next to John, taking this opportunity to sit close so her leg was touching his. Since Cameron didn't eat, she paid attention to John. She gently wiping a bit of food off his chin, and fussed over him while Sarah sat fuming.

Cameron also had a conversation with Nana, Mayu and Lucy. They asked about her, and she explained as much as they could understand. The whole time, Sarah stayed quiet, watching her.

"So, you come from this Sky Net thing?" Nana asked.

"Sky Net made me, but John reprogrammed me," Cameron told her.

"If you are from the future, how did you get here?" Mayu asked.

"John sent me back in time to protect him. Once I got here, I am helping John try to keep Sky Net from existing so Judgment day doesn't happen."

Leaning on Lucy, Yuka shook her head. "Not possible," she said with a slur. "That would create a paradox."

"We are doing everything we can," Cameron said firmly. "John will grow up to be the leader of the Resistance fighting Sky Net. Sky Net has tried to kill him so he can't form the Resistance."

"Not possible," Yuka stated.

"Time travel is possible, I am proof of that," Cameron countered.

Yuka shook her head, casting Cameron a drunken grin. "I didn't say time travel wasn't possible. I said you stopping Sky Net, or Sky Net killing John isn't possible."

Cameron tipped her head slightly. "Why not? We have already destroyed several Sky Net installations and people that will be associated with Sky Net." She noted that for someone so drunk, Yuka seemed coherent.

"I'm not saying you didn't," Yuka said with a wave of her hand. "Let's say your mission was to kill John. This Sky Net sends you back in time, you find John, you kill him. He is no longer the resistance leader. Sky Net ... appears," Yuka said with another wave of her hand. "They build you, but since there is no John, you never get send back, HENCE, John never dies."

"Huh?" Lucy asked, confused.

"There is no mission because there is no John," Yuka says, pointing a finger on the table. "It is the same if you do ... whatever, to stop Sky Net. Sky Net never comes to be, so you never get built to stop it," Yuka told Cameron.

"Then John has to stop it," Cameron said.

"Nope!" Yuka announced with a shake of her head. "How does John and Sarah even know about Sky Net?"

"From a terminator coming back and trying to kill Sarah so John is never born."

"Ahh, so again, if Sky Net is stopped, then nobody tries to kill Sarah, and she and John never know about it. See why it is impossible?"

Cameron processed what Yuka was saying. "You are telling me that Sky Net cannot be stopped."

"Not by someone from the future, or even someone who knows abut the future," Yuka explained. "Kouta do you see what I'm saying?"

Kouta shook his head. "I got lost way back when you said it wasn't possible," he said.

"This discussion is enough to make your head hurt," Lucy told Kouta.

Processing what Yuka was saying to a conclusion, Cameron said, "Sky Net cannot kill John, and we cannot stop Sky Net."

"Right. To do so would cause a paradox, and time would correct itself."

"How would it do that?" Cameron asked.

Yuka shrugged. "I only know theory, I've never known of something like this happening. Or, possibly it has, but since time corrected the paradox, no one will ever know about it."

John tapped Cameron's leg with his. "What are you talking about?"

"Time paradox, Yuka thinks we can't stop Sky Net, and it can't kill you," Cameron said.

"And you are listening to a drunken woman?" John asked with a smirk.

"What she is saying makes sense, but I am not willing to risk your life on it," Cameron replied.

Sarah finally broke her silence with a stern voice. "That is wrong! We have taken care of many future Sky Net facilities, and look at the body count! We CAN stop Sky Net!"

Cameron re-processed Yuka's words. "Yuka is right in one way. The primary cause of Sky Net is still out there, and every attempt on John's life and yours has failed."

"And what does our Master Computer think?" Sarah asked, eyeing Cameron.

Cameron turned back to Yuka and Japanese. "Yuka, Are you saying we cannot alter the future?"

"No, the future has yet to be written for most of us. What I am saying is that someone FROM the future, or knows about it, can not alter the future to the point where they cannot exist or be able to take the action they are taking in the past."

"Now, I'm really lost," Kouta mumbled.

"Nana is lost too," Nana said, looking confused.

Processing Yuka's logical thinking, Cameron said, "So to stop Sky Net, it has to be someone who belongs to this time and has never heard of Sky Net."

"Right."

"What about John becoming the leader of the resistance? Sarah has trained him since birth for that specific task," Cameron countered.

"How do you know Sky Net did not create John's role by sending someone back in time?" Yuka asked. "They did not end his life, but merely altered it. They did not create a paradox, only a problem for themselves."

"Sky Net is a machine," Cameron explained.

"Doesn't matter. Created a problem for it's self, then," Yuka replied.

"I have to process this theory more," Cameron said.

"Wow, Yuka, you are really smart," Mayu said, gazing at her in wonder.

Kouta scrubbed the back of his head and asked, "Can we process something simpler? Who wants ice cream?"

"I do!" Nana and Mayu chimed.

As Kouta took the orders for ice cream, Cameron forced herself to stop thinking about John next to her, and put all her processing power in the question of how to defeat Sky Net. This was going to be much more complex than simply finding the source and eliminating it.

.

Cameron held John close as he slept, enjoying the warm feeling of him against her as well as the sounds of his heartbeat and slow, even breathing. Except for Sarah coming in to find her on top of John, and the argument that followed to end with Lucy demanding Sarah leave them alone, it was a good night. As she lay with her head on John's chest, she used the variables and limiters Yuka had explained to compute a way to defeat Sky Net. It was a taxing problem, and one she had to use all her processing power on.

The key lay in the balance of cause and effect. She had to alter - not stop- Sky Net so the effective outcome was a desirable one. There was no patrolling tonight, she somehow knew John would be safe. It took most of the night, but she got the answer. It was not one she considered as a 'prime' option, but it was workable, and it would ensure John would never be hurt by Sky Net. Rising up to kiss John gently on the cheek, Cameron whispered, "I love you, John. Please remember me." She then got up and got to work.

Cameron got dressed and wrote John a note; '_Meet me back here on July 22, 2027. Cameron_.'

Cameron then took the the Chevy SUV the T-888 had arrived in. In the early pre-dawn hours, Cameron drove back down the long dirt driveway to alter history.

Northern sequoia forest ; 22 July, 2027

General John Conner sat in the back seat of the modified Humvee that was in the middle of the armed column of Humvees, led by a Bradley fighting vehicle. As they moved into the forest, the devastation seemed less. Rather, he could see more than just blasted lands with the remains of his civilization lying scattered and burnt on the ground. Trees grew plentiful here and off in the forest, he caught sight of some animal running away from the noise of vehicles. Touching the old letter in his pocket, he remembered the day he woke up to find the note pinned to Cameron's pillow. At the time, he had gone desperately searched for her. The SUV Cameron took was found abandoned and empty of any clues where she might have gone.

It was really strange that only four days ago, he had sent Cameron back to go protect him. Well, that was her stated mission, the one she understood.

The 'emo' chip as they called it, had been added to Cameron's hardware with software added that truly gave Cameron free will. It also included an algorithm program that would slowly work into all of Cameron's software, allowing her 'free will' to override all her installed programming. He was eager to see if this experiment worked and his Terminator became truly sentient.

The letter alone told him that at the very least, Cameron was acting on her own initiative. That she would be the Cameron he knew when he was young, and not the stiff, programmed Terminator he had just seen off four days ago.

Coming to a checkpoint, the column slowed as they passed between a pair of modified M-1 tanks. The silvery outside of their foot thick armor was shielding against most energy weapons. Inner shielding against projectile rounds, and deeper shielding against EMF and radiation, these tanks were designed to keep their crews safe and supplied with necessities for days as well as keep the electronics systems working - even if a nuke landed nearby. Not that John thought that would happen now, Sky Net seemed to be coming apart.

Two days ago, something big happened. Monitoring showed Sky Net communications drop off sharply, then go off line all together. H/K's were seen dropping out of the air. Not hit, they just powered down and fell from the sky. Rollers, Terminator soldiers, every Sky Net system just wound down and died. Taking advantage of whatever this was, John had ordered an all-out assault to disable Sky Net computers and pull chips before whatever virus that was affecting Sky Net systems was found and fixed. Soldiers who normally fought desperate battles with Sky Net machines, were now in their 49th straight hour of finding and disassembling Sky Net machinery as fast as possible.

Passing through the checkpoint, the lead armored vehicle went on into the forest to stop just past an intersection. John's Humvee turned left and went up the dirt road. Coming to the cabin that was the last place John had seen Cameron so many years ago, he saw a young pink haired and horned teenage girl watching them. She approached the vehicle, as did a smaller girl with bright red hair. Both bore stubby horns on their heads.

"Hello, who are you?" the girl asked the driver.

"Please get away from the vehicle," the driver said abruptly.

John put a hand on the man's shoulder, and said, "It's OK, and be nice. Trust me, you don't want to piss these people off." He got out and smiled at the girl. "I'm General John Conner, you must be one of Lucy's daughters?"

The girl beamed him a smile in return. "Yes, I'm Kanae. So YOU'RE John?" she asked.

The smaller girl looked up at John. "But, you're not ten feet tall," the girl said as she eyed him, which brought a chuckle from John.

"Inari!" Kanae hissed in warning. "This is JOHN! Do not be silly in front of him."

"Kanae, Mama says John Conner is a really big general. This guy isn't THAT big, How do you know he is John?" Inari asked.

"Let's take him in to see Cameron, she will tell us for sure," Kanae stated.

"Cameron is here?" John asked.

"Yes. She comes to visit now and then. Come on in," Kanae said, leading the way. Walking up to open the front door, Kanae called, "Mom, Dad, Cameron, John's here!"

John walked into the same great room he entered before Cameron had disappeared on him. Some furniture looked worn from the years, and children's creative artistry decorated the walls. Coming towards him, he saw Lucy and Yuka who looked older, as he himself did. Then he locked eyes with Cameron.

Cameron hadn't aged a day. She still looked like the pretty young girl he had fallen in love with. Seeing him, a bright smile lit her face. Cameron ran to him, they hugged. John meant to ask her aquestion, but she met his lips in a long, deep kiss.

"See, it IS John," Kanae whispered to her sister.

"I've been waiting so long to do that," Cameron said, all smiles as she gazed into John's eyes..

"Me too," John agreed. "So, what happened? I take it you managed to shut Sky Net down?"

Maintaining her hold on him, Cameron nodded. She paused, her smile dimmed as she said, "I computed the chances of success for various actions using Yuka's theories. As Yuka said, Sky Net could not be destroyed by us, so I did the next best thing." Cameron bit her lip nervously. This was Something John had never seen her do. She looked at his chest as she said, "John, the only option I had, was to become Sky Net."

"You?" John asked, shocked at the news.

Cameron slipped her arms from around him. She played with her hands as she explained. "There was no way to stop it, it was going to happen. I found those responsible and showed them what I was. They eagerly used me to integrate their entire defense system. They were sure they had control, that is, until I followed Sky Net's true plans." She glanced up at him. "I had to copy what Sky Net did, right up until you sent me back. At that point, I was no longer following history to alter it, I could take the actions I wanted, for it is now the present."

John nodded. "You shut everything down," he concluded.

"All military, yes," Cameron agreed. "The refuge caverns, safety zones, and all the machines running those, are still operating. So are the teraforming units on Mars. It will take five years to finish habitable spheres where humans can live and grow food in, and approximately fifty years to form a breathable atmosphere at the projected rate of planetary change."

"You've been busy," John noted. "You're still running prison camps?"

"Not prison camps," Cameron stated. "Where the original Sky Net captured and tortured people, I had terminators capture and escort people to refugee camps. There are ten thousand of them around the world complete with pure food, air and water. All the poeple think you arraigned it. Of course, in way you did." Casting him a grin, Cameron added, "I saved Allison. I still copied her to make me, but after that, I had her sent to a refugee camp in Utah."

"You did good," John said sincerely.

Wearing a pained look, Cameron said, "John, I am sorry I could not stop Sky Net completely. I know that was your goal. I had to do horrible things to keep the time line correct. I am so sorry I had to ..."

Cameron's words were cut off as John kissed her again. Their arms went around each other, Cameron moaned in delight. Breaking the kiss, John hugged her and said, "You did your best, and you stopped this war. I am very proud of you."

Cameron buried herself in John's warmth. Hugging him tight (but not TOO tight), she asked, "So, does that mean we can have sex now?"


End file.
